Invasion of Karideph
by rachii1701
Summary: Mandalorian mercenary and GAR commander, Andreanna Tel-Grava and a squad of Republic Commandos struggle to defend the planet Karideph from Sepratist scouts clearing the way for an invasion army.
1. Chapter 1: Copaani mirshmure’cye, vod?

**A/N:** This is a one-shot (and also my first-ever _completed_ fic, w00t) that I wrote almost a year ago for a Star Wars story contest, so I'm sorry if it stinks. My writing has improved a LOT since then. I also apologize for the droid dialogue. The guidelines for the contest required a certain amount of battle droid dialogue, so as much as I hated to make the droids talk, I had to. Yuck.

I will be posting it in five parts, one part per week.

**Update 1/13/10:** I have posted a sixth part, which contains all five parts of the story on one page for ease of reading.

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Star Wars, Lucas does, blaa blaa blaaa... However, the characters of Kappa squad, Scar, Ree, Fore, and Ten, and their pilot, Ven, are my own creations, and thus, mine. Andreanna Tel-Grava is one of my OCs, so she is mine too.

* * *

**Invasion of Karideph**

KARIDEPH, OUTER RIM, ELEVEN MONTHS AFTER THE BATTLE OF GEONOSIS

"TAKE COVER!"

A charred and smoking Trade Federation Armored Assault Tank, four B1 battle droids, and one super battle droid blasted away at Republic Commando squad Kappa. The four commandos and their Mandalorian commander split up and took cover behind large chunks of destroyed buildings and overturned vehicles that littered the city street. The AAT swung around, searching for the commandos and, locating one, the droid pilot locked onto him, and fired a missile. The missile screamed through the smoky air toward the clone and he broke into a run, trying to get as far away from it as possible. Seeing no other escape, he jumped into a crater in the ground left by an explosion. The missile shot above his head, missing him by two meters. It crashed into a half-demolished building and exploded, leaving a smoking hole in the wall, and sending debris flying in every direction. Shattered transparasteel, chunks of permacrete, and scraps of twisted durasteel rained down on the commando.

The droid pilot prepared to fire a second time, but was distracted when it heard a faint beeping. Looking down into the tank, it asked the co-pilot, "Do you hear something?"

"Negative. Nothing-"

The droid never finished its sentence. It was silenced as the proximity mines placed by one of the clone commandos detonated, and the already badly damaged AAT exploded in a fiery ball, taking the four battle droids, and super battle droid with it.

After the smoke had cleared, squad commander and Mandalorian mercenary Andreanna Tel-Grava climbed out from underneath the wreckage of an overturned civilian transport. Brushing dust and broken transparasteel from her maroon and silver _beskar _armor and black leather _kama_, she scanned the street for any remaining battle droids. Seeing none, she cautiously left the cover of the destroyed transport, blaster rifle at the ready, and opened a private comm channel to the commandos. "Everybody still in one piece?"

Squad captain RC-3552--Scar, as his comrades called him, due to the numerous scars that disfigured his tan face--was the first to respond. Warily leaving the safety of a nearby building, he nodded to the commander. "Yes, ma'am."

Crawling out from under a chunk of a fallen balcony, the squad's sniper, Ree, RC-3733, nodded an affirmative.

Fore, RC-3734, Kappa squad's slicer and medic, jogged over to Andreanna and saluted. "Still here."

The squad's weapons expert, Ten, RC-3010, emerged from the pile of rubble that had fallen on him when the CIS missile he had been fleeing exploded. He removed his helmet and laughed. "Almost a year and you're _still _asking that. You _do_ know everyone's vital signs are displayed on the HUD where we can all see 'em. You'd know is any of us were injured."

Andreanna looked sideways at Ten through her T-shaped visor. "_Copaani mirshmure'cye, vod?"_

"Me, _An'ika?_" Ten grinned. "Never."

Rolling her eyes, Andreanna turned away from the commandos and opened a comm channel to Kappa squad's pilot, RC-3511. "Ven, do you copy?"

After a moment, the comm channel crackled to life. "Copy, Commander."

Andreanna wasted no time on idle chatter. "I'm transmitting coordinates for the rendezvous point." A light flashed in her HUD to indicate that the information was sent.

"Coordinates received. I'll take it you destroyed the last of tinnies in your city?"

"Affirmative. Although, an AAT nearly brained Ten. Again."

"Sounds like you all have been busy." Ven fell awkwardly silent, and Andreanna felt a twinge of guilt. Ven had been severely injured at the battle of Geonosis eleven months earlier in an LAAT/i crash that had killed everyone in his squad but him, and was now physically impaired, unable to run long distances and perform the agile feats that were required by commando every day. Mentally he was perfectly fine, and he could still walk, but he was not a perfect soldier anymore.

Faint clicks and electronic beeps in the background as Ven entered coordinates into the navicomputer pulled Andreanna from her thoughts. "Commander, I'll meet you and the others at the rendezvous at oh-eight-hundred."

"Copy that. Tel-Grava, out."

* * *

Republic Commando squad Kappa had been deployed to Karideph when the Grand Army of the Republic received word that the Separatist armies were threatening to invade the crowded Outer Rim planet. The insectoid Karis had developed an export industry of servo-neuro motors for droids, and other small machine parts, and the Separatist armies--the Trade Federation in particular--were always looking for ways to improve their battle droids. When they saw the planet was not occupied by the Republic, the Separatists had sent scouts to Karideph to clear the way for their invasion army.

Their scouts were met by Kappa squad and their Mandalorian commander, Andreanna Tel-Grava, who had arrived just days before the scouts arrived. They had wiped out about half of the droids in less than a standard week, and now they just had to hold the planet until Jedi General Luminara Unduli, Jedi Commander Barriss Offee, and GAR reinforcements arrived…

* * *

**Another A/N:** So, what do you think? Sorry about the shortness of this part; it was the only way I could break up the story into five parts without interrupting any of the action. I will post another part next week, and it will be longer.  
**  
Translations of Mandalorian words and phrases:  
**_  
vod_- brother/sister/comrade  
_ner_ _vod_- my brother/sister/comrade  
_Copaani mirshmure'cye, vod?-_ Are you looking for a slap in the face, brother?

Please, feel free drop me a line if you get the chance and let me know if you liked it, or what you think could be improved. I love getting feedback. =D


	2. Chapter 2: Permission To Speak Freely

**A/N:** Okay...so maybe this one isn't a _whole_ lot longer than the last part. XD The entire story is only about 7,000 words long, so that doesn't make for very long parts...

**Disclaimer: **The Star Wars universe and all of its canon SW characters belong to Lucas. Scar, Ree, Fore, Ten, Ven, and Andreanna Tel-Grava are mine.

Enjoy!

* * *

Andreanna watched the approaching LAAT/i carefully navigate the cramped city streets as Ven looked for a place to land. Like Coruscant, Karideph was one of the most overpopulated planets in the galaxy, so every meter of space was used for something, whether it was living quarters, corporate office buildings, or tapcafs. Few Karis were wandering the streets now that droids were in the city, but Andreanna noticed that the ones outside of their homes or offices stopped to watch her and the commandos with curious eyes for a moment, but didn't come very close, and then quickly went about their business. Andreanna was used to having beings take one look at the iconic armor she wore every day, then hurry away as fast as they could, so the Karis reaction to her presence did not bother her much. She was proud of her Mandalorian culture, and did not try to hide it.

Ven found relatively open place to land the LAAT/i and opened the bay doors. Andreanna signaled for Scar, Ree, Fore, and Ten to form up behind her and headed toward the ship. When they had all boarded, Ven closed the bay doors, and they took off into the sky.

Slipping her helmet off of her head, Andreanna's dark brown hair came tumbling down to her shoulders. As she ran her fingers through her wavy hair, she caught a glimpse of her face reflected in the dark T-visor and lifted her helmet to eye level to look closer. There were dark circles under her eyes and worry lines forming in her face, and she stifled a sigh as she tucked her wine red helmet under her arm and rested it on her hip.

War had a way of making you age faster than you would otherwise. At twenty-six, Andreanna had aged drastically, both physically and emotionally. She could only imagine what it must be like for the clones...for Kappa squad, her unofficial adopted brothers. War took a toll on soldiers, and the clones already had a shortened life span.

_It must be afwul_, she thought, glancing at the commandos, k_nowing that every day you live is more like two. _

Her heart ached, and she pushed the thought away. When and if this war ever ended, perhaps she could try to help Kappa squad start their own lives, and maybe even find a way to help them live longer. But for the time being...she would only be exciting false hope to speak to them of such things. She couldn't do that to them. They already risked their lives every day for a galaxy of beings that didn't know, and perhaps wouldn't even care if they did know, about the life-or-death situations that GAR soldiers were in every day.

Ven's voice echoed through the LAAT/i as he spoke through the comm, pulling Andreanna from her thoughts. "Orders, Commander?"

Andreanna thought for a moment before responding. "How many sectors are still controlled by the Seps?"

"Five."

_Fantastic…_ "Just get us to the closest droid-controlled sector then, and we'll go from there."

"Yes, Commander."

Fore removed his helmet. "Permission to speak freely?"

Andreanna nodded. "Speak freely anytime you wish to, _vod_."

Fore nodded slightly. "I'm not one to complain, and I try to be optimistic, but…" He hesitated and lowered his voice. "I'm a realist. This is a suicide mission. It's a miracle that we lasted the past five days, and we've only destroyed half of the Sep scouts. And the odds of the _six _of us holding a _whole planet _until General Unduli gets here…" He didn't finish his statement, but his eyes said it all. An awkward silence fell over the group.

"I know, Fore." Andreanna paused, pressing her lips together in a thin line. "The odds aren't in our favor." She glanced at Scar, Ree, and Ten, who had also taken off their helmets.

"Hey, let's _try_ to look at the bright side." Ten said. "We only have to hold this place for another forty-eight hours until Unduli gets here. Am I right? What are we, a bunch of woklings? We've been through worse! We managed to stay alive through the mess of Geonosis, we've been on _countless _assignments--I can't even remember how many at the moment, I'd have to check my log--and yeah, so the odds on those assignments were better than now--well, with the exception of that mission to Altyr 5, that was a mess too--but come on, for the sake of the Force--"

Scar raised an eyebrow, then cut Ten off mid-rant. "Ten."

Ten stopped his ramble and looked at Scar. "Mhm?"

"You and your attempt at humor are not helping the situation right now. Stop. "

Ten rolled his eyes, but complied. "Yes, sir." He muttered something quietly to Fore in Mando'a, and Fore snorted in an attempt to suppress a laugh.

Scar cocked his head and growled at Ten. "_What_ did you call me?"

Ten grinned. "Nothing, _ner vod_."

Scar opened his mouth to reply when rapid cannon fire rocked the ship, and the LAAT/i went into a terrifying hundred-meter freefall before shooting upward again. Ven's voice echoed from the comm speakers. "We've run into some tinnies."

Ten laughed as he picked himself up of the gunship's deck. "No, _really_?"

Andreanna snapped into battle-mode. "Ree, Ten, man the laser turrets. Fore, you're co-pilot. Scar, we'll mount up on speeder bikes. Move!"

* * *

The LAAT/i dodged Separatist cannon fire as it swooped low over the city. The bay doors opened, and Scar and Andreanna flew out on speeder bikes. Ven closed the bay doors, and the LAAT/i flew higher. Ree and Ten were in the laser turrets, firing at droids as fast as they could lock on to them.

Andreanna raised Ven through her helmet comm. "Ven, I need a report. What are we facing?"

"Two AATs, ten SBDs, and a couple dozen battle droids. Ree, Ten, and I will take out as many Seps as possible from up here, we can't get them all." Ven paused for a moment. "We're in luck, though. It looks like the Seps main base is in this sector. I'm transmitting the coordinates now. It's about one hundred and fifty meters from your current location. Looks like they're holed up in a food storage warehouse. If you and Scar can get in, you might be able to take out whoever, or whatever, is commanding the droids."

"We'll find a way in. You, Ree, Fore, and Ten just keeps these tinnies occupied."

"Yes, Ma'am. Ven, out."

Andreanna quickly relayed the information to Scar and they headed toward the coordinates Ven had sent her. Weaving their way through the battle raging around them, they pushed their speeder bikes to their limits, and sped toward the warehouse. As they got closer, the doors began to open and Andreanna caught a glimpse of more battle droids. She opened a comm channel to Scar.

"Scar, we can't go in the front way. Let's hide the speeder bikes behind the warehouse and try to get in through the back. We'll have the element of surprise, so hopefully it won't be too hard to get in."

Scar nodded. "Yes, Commander."

They took a sharp left turn, then turned right onto another street. After a few more moments, they turned right again, and found themselves behind the warehouse. Hiding the speeder bikes, Andreanna and Scar crept toward the huge building.

Coming to a small back entrance, Andreanna keyed in a security override code provided by GAR intelligence, but the keypad screen flashed a red tinted "access denied" message. Frustrated, she tried a second time, then a third. Still no access. She slammed the butt of her blaster rifle into the keypad, crushing it, and the door slid open with a hiss. Motioning for Scar to follow her, they slipped inside and the door closed behind them. Suddenly, red lights began to flash, turning the grey durasteel hallway a shade of red, and a siren blared a ear-splitting alert.

An automated droid voice came over the comm. "Warning. Warning. Unauthorized personnel in hallway A-7. Repeat, unauthorized personnel in hallway A-7."

Scar glanced at Andreanna.

"Let's keep going." Slinging her blaster rifle onto her back, she took her blaster pistol from its holster on her right thigh and slammed in a new charge pack. "If we can take out the driods' control hub, we can end this now and be back on triple zero in a few days."

Scar nodded and checked his DC-17. "Then let's go."

* * *

Ven winced as another volley of laser fire battered the LAAT/i. He wasn't sure how much more the ship could take. The LAAT/i shot upward, and Ven threw it into a spin to avoid the missiles screaming toward the carbon-scored hull. Ten commed him from a laser turret.

"Ven, we're run low on missiles, and there are still a dozen battle droids, five SBDs and an AAT left."

Ree cut in as the LAAT/i shuddered under the impact of another CIS anti-air round. "The battle droids shouldn't be too much of a problem, but that AAT is tough."

"I scored two critical hits, but it's still going." Fore added, swearing under his breath as the LAAT/i narrowly evaded a concussion missile."They make those things better than they used to."

Ven threw the gunship into a series of elaborate maneuvers to avoid cannon fire from the CIS droids. "We don't have to destroy all the tinnies, just keep them busy until Scar and the commander can take out whoever is controlling them, so shift your _shebse_ in gear and focus on your aim. "

* * *

The sirens were still blaring as Andreanna and Scar raced up flights of the warehouse stairs.

_You'd think they would install turbo lifts..._ Andreanna grumbled to herself, trying to ignore her aching legs as she ran up the last few steps.

Not daring to use her helmet commlink for fear that the CIS droids would be monitoring communications, Andreanna motioned for Scar to remove the grate from a nearby air duct. He yanked the grate off and Ruusaan climbed in, the commando close behind. Andreanna crawled through the air duct without too much trouble, but the much bigger Scar had a more difficult time.

"You all right back there?" She whispered.

Scar stopped struggling for a moment to rest. "I'll survive, Ma'am."

After a few minutes, Andreanna came to a vent in the bottom of the duct overlooking the main room of the warehouse. Along one grey permacrete wall, a half dozen droids stood at various viewscreens and work stations, controlling the other troops' movements. Lining the other the other wall were five AAT tanks, a dozen curled up droidekas, ten super battle droids, and two dozen B1 battle droids. But the most distressing sight of all was the sight of a being that stood in the center of the room. About 1.7 meters tall, she was dressed in an orange jumpsuit and brown leather vest. Her skin was dead white, and her dark, sunken eyes expressed a wild anger, and a topknot of bright red hair rose from the center of her white scalp. Armed with a slug thrower and twin blaster pistols, a lightsaber hilt hung from her belt. Andreanna swore.

Aurra Sing.


	3. Chapter 3: Aurra Sing

**A/N:** Here we go, part 3. Thank you, Ceres McClure and yellow 14 for your reviews! Even though I write for fun, and not to amass a bazillion reviews, it's still fun to read them.

**Disclaimer: **The Star Wars universe, along with Aurra Sing and all other canon SW characters, belong to Lucas. Scar, Ree, Fore, Ten, Ven, and Andreanna Tel-Grava are mine. Also, the plot idea is mine too, so please don't steal it...

* * *

Ten supressed the urge to panic. He, Ree, Fore, and Ven were low on ammunition, and the odds of winning hadn't even been in their favor _before_ that. Swinging his turret around, he aimed at another battle droid and fired, reducing it to a heap of smoking metal. "Got another one!" he shouted over the comm to his brothers.

"Don't get too excited, Ten, there are many more where that one came from," Ree replied grimly.

Ten snorted and rolled his eyes. "Party pooper..."

* * *

_Shab, _Andreanna swore as she looked through the vent at the bounty hunter. _Just when I thought we were going to have some good luck..._

As she read something on her data pad, oblivious to the intruders high above her head, Sing's comlink flashed, notifying her of an incoming call. She unclipped it from her belt and answered it, and a shimmering blue likeness of Count Dooku flickered into existence.

Andreanna paled beneath her helmet and pressed her lips into a thin line. _Oh, this keeps getting_ better_…_

Sing nodded. "Yes, Count?"

Dooku's aristocratic voice emanated from the comm. "Have you monitored inter-planetary communications as I ordered, Sing?"

"Yes. The Jedi will be here in a few standard days."

"Good. I am pleased with your work," Dooku replied, his voice expresssing everything but pleasure. "Has the resistance been...taken care of?"

Sing flinched, and hesitated for a split second before responding. "We are working to locate them."

Dooku's eyebrows raised. "Then your answer is 'no.'"

"I am afraid that my opponents are quite skilled, my lord. They have been difficult to track."

Dooku's voice practically dripped with sarcasm. "You have a small _army _of droids at your disposal, but yet you cannot kill _six_ GAR soldiers." It wasn't a question, it was a statement, a direct insult to Sing's pride.

"You forget, _my lord_," she spat back, eyes flashing with anger, "that I only agreed to do this so that I could kill the Jedi and her Padawan."

"_You_ forget, Sing, that if you wish to be paid, you will do as you are commanded."

"The death of the Jedi will be payment enough."

Dooku waved a hand dismissively. "Do not try my patience. You will do the job that you were hired to do." He was silent for a moment as he let his words sink in. "Even if you are not competent enough to keep the scouts intact, we will still move ahead with our invasion plans, Republic intervention or not." He stared coldly at Sing. "That does _not_ mean that you may shirk the tasks assigned to you. Do your job well, or suffer the consequences."

"As you command, Count Tyrannus," she said, spitting out his name as if it were a curse. Cutting the communication without another word, Sing hooked the comlink to her belt, and resumed reading a message on her datapad.

Glancing back to the droids standing at the viewscreens, Andreanna focused on making out what they were saying.

"Last known location?" a droid asked.

"C-10," the second droid responded.

"Negative," said a third droid. "C-8."

"Negative," the second droid argued. "C-10."

"C-8."

"C-10."

Sing overheard the droids and stormed over. "What are you arguing about now?!" she snapped.

"The location of the intruders."

Sing slammed a charge pack into her blaster. "You _still_ haven't located them?" She leveled one of her blaster pistols at the second droid's head and fired. The droid fell to the ground, and Sing kicked it aside.

A warehouse door slid open and four droids marched into the room. Sing turned to face them. "You better have found them," she growled.

"Negative. There is no sign that there were ever any intruders except for a damaged door control panel at the back of this warehouse."

"There's here, I can feel them, and if you can't find them, I'll find them myself!" Sing shouted. She stormed out of the room, cursing under her breath as she went.

Andreanna looked back over her shoulder to Scar. "Now's our chance," she whispered. "I'll keep the droids busy while you shut them down."

Scar nodded in acknowledgement.

Andreanna magnetized her rappel line to the inside of the air duct and kicked the rusting vent out. It hit the warehouse floor with a loud _thud_, alerting the battle droids below. They turned, swiveling around on a tan metal foot, and opened fire. Clipping the line to her belt, she jumped down, freefalling for a few heart-stopping seconds as blasterfire scorched the air around her before the line went taunt a meter above the ground. In one smooth motion, she unclipped the line, and dropping to the ground, drew her blaster and fired on the droids standing at the control panels. They returned her fire, blasters spewing relentless red bolts of energy, and she was forced to retreat several meters. Stepping over a dormant droideka, she silently prayed it wouldn't activate. Glancing behind the droids she was firing at, she saw Scar at the main control panel, yanking off a durasteel cover, then typing commands on one of the the keypads.

Aiming at the chest of one of the droids, she fired twice, taking it out. She ducked around the diactivated driods, dodging blaster bolts. There were only three droids left. Suddenly, the droids stopped firing and lowered their blasters. They stood there for a moment, motionless, then raised their blasters again, fired on each other, and were destroyed in seconds. Then the droidekas behind her rolled out of their dormant position and fired on each other, reducing themselves to smoking scrap metal. Andreanna was confused for a moment and glanced at Scar, who was still at one of the workstation. Scar entered one final command, then and walked toward Andreanna.

Andreanna just stared at him, dumbfounded. "Wait, did you just..."

* * *

Abruptly, the cannon fire stopped, and the LAAT/i leveled out, flying easily through the streets. Ven glanced out the viewport, confused, but didn't let his gaurd down and remained tense, ready to send the gunship into a steep dive to avoid CIS fire, if necessary.

"What in the worlds is going on down there?!" Ten shouted over the comm to his brothers.

Ven raised his eyebrows in surprise as he took in the sight below them. Thick grey smoke rose from an AAT that was firing a constant barrage of heavy artillery at the battle driods around it. "Scar has a bizarre sense of humor."

Ree grunted in agreement.

"Yeah," Fore added. "Why just shut down the tinnies when you can order them to fire on each other?"

The comm crackled to life and Andreanna's voice echoed through the gunship. "Everything all right up there, _vode_?"

Ven allowed himself a small smile. "Just fine, Commander."

* * *

**A/N:** Oh yay, everything is going well now! They're all going to get off of Karideph unscathed!

Not. :P

Oh, I also wrote an Order 66 one-shot the other day. It's fairly short, so it wouldn't be too hard to take five minutes and hop on over to it and drop me a line... XD *poke poke* Sorry, sorry, nevermind... *grins*


	4. Chapter 4: Shi taab'echaaj'la

**Disclaimer: **The Star Wars universe, along with Aurra Sing and other canon SW characters, belong to Lucas. Scar, Ree, Fore, Ten, Ven, and Andreanna are mine.

* * *

Andreanna had recovered from her shock, and grinned, slapping Scar on the back. "_Kandosii, ner vod!_ I'm impressed. I didn't know you had it in you."

Scar shrugged, but Andreanna could tell that he was pleased with himself. Turning away to look at the destroyed CIS droids behind her, she continued, "Well, I can't say that I--"

She was cut short by the _snap-hiss_ sound of a lightsaber being ignited. Whirling around, she watched in horror as Scar collapsed onto the warehouse floor with a moan, a smoking hole in his chest.

"NO!" Andreanna screamed. She was going to loose another one of her men. Again.

_First Geonosis, now Karideph...this can't happen...I'm failing them...I can't keep my men, my own_ brothers_, alive..._

Her gaze settled on an orange-clad figure standing behind Scar's fallen form and holding an ignited lightsaber in one hand, the glow from the crimson blade bathing the wielder's pale face in a sickly red hue.

Andreanna felt her anger rising. _Sing._

The deathly pale bounty hunter raised her chin and laughed. Lightsaber at the ready, she stepped forward a few paces then stopped, stomping on Scar's motionless body with one foot.

"Does it hurt, Mandalorian scum?" she asked Andreanna, kicking Scar in the side with the toe of her brown leather boot. "Does it hurt to see him suffer?" She laughed again and leaned forward, her menacing stare seemingly able to pierce Andreanna's helmet. She kicked Scar again, and this time, he moaned in pain.

Andreanna couldn't take it anymore. Something deep inside her snapped; her vision clouded as though a red mist had settled upon her surroundings. With an enraged scream, she ejected a vibroblade from her gauntlet and lunged at Sing, knocking the surprised bounty hunter's lightsaber from her hand and throwing her bodily to the ground. Sing rolled backwards, narrowly avoiding the sharp vibroblade and reached out with her hand to call her lightsaber hilt to her hand, but Andreanna brought one booted foot down on the moving hilt, crushing the blade emitter underfoot. Sing leapt to her feet and drew her twin blaster pistols, then opened fire on the Mandalorian woman.

Andreanna advanced, dodging as many bolts as she could as she ran at the bounty hunter before her. The blaster bolts that did hit her were rendered harmless as they deflected off of her maroon _beskar _armor. As Sing backed away, she began aiming for the unarmored parts of Andreanna's body, and one of the bolts hit Andreanna's stomach, between her stomach armor and ammo belts. Andreanna slowed for a moment as the sharp scent of charred flesh filled the air, but then ignored it, and ejected a second vibroblade out of her left gauntlet. She lunged at Sing again, but the pale-skinned woman ducked, and Andreanna barely grazed her arm.

Switching tactics, Andreanna kneed Sing in her unarmored stomach, and Sing dropped one of her blasters as she doubled over and backed away. Andreanna reached out and grabbed a fistful of Sing's hair and pulled hard, yanking the woman's head toward her. Raising a knee, she pulled Sing's face into the _beskar_ knee pad and heard the satisfying _crunch_ of bone being crushed. Howling in pain, Sing slammed her fist into Andreanna's stomach, right on top of the blaster burn, and a hiss of pain escaped Andreanna's lips and she released Sing's topnot and retreated several paces.

The two women cirlced each other, breathing hard. Andreanna's ragged breathing, amplified by her helmet's audio, echoed through the room. Sing's teeth, bared in a feral grin, had taken on a reddish tint from the blood dripping from her broken nose into her mouth. "You are a formidable opponent. May I have the pleasure of knowing your name?"

Andreanna crouched. "Never, filthy _chakaar_." She lunged again, and this time, her vibroblades hit home as she slashed Sing's left arm with one blade, and buried the second in her right thigh. Sing pulled away, cursing Andreanna, and fired at her once more with her remaining blaster, but Andreanna brought one arm up and sliced the inside of Sing's arm, causing her to drop her weapon. Andreanna spun and kicked Sing in the chest with one heavy, booted foot, sending her flying backwards onto the warehouse floor. Retracting her vibroblades, Andreanna slung her blaster rifle off of her back, and sighting up on Sing's chest, she fired.

* * *

Andreanna knelt beside Scar and rolled him onto his back. _Oh no, please…_ She yanked her helmet off and threw it on the ground beside her, then pulled Scar's commando helmet off and laid it next to hers.

Scar moaned, his eyes were barely open. "Commander...?"

Andreanna nodded. "Yes, it's Andreanna. You're going to be all right. I'm going to get you back to your _vode_, and we'll get you in a bacta tank and you'll be healed up in no time--"

Scar shook his head weakly. "I…don't need Fore here...to tell me the odds...I'm...a dead man..."

Andreanna shook her head furiously, tears forming in her eyes. "No, you're fine." _I can't loose Scar, I can't...I already lost my entire blood family, and two of my adopted brothers..._

"I want you to…promise me something." His breathing was shallow, and his dark brown eyes were unfocused as they stared at the ceiling high above.

A tear fell from Andreanna's cheek and landed on Scar's chest. She watched as it slid down the matte black stealth armor and past the smoking hole in the chestplate, and gasped when she realized she could see the warehouse floor through the wound. She gingerly raised one hand and laid it over the wound to cover the hole and sqeezed her eyes shut, desprately wishing for an illogical moment that it was just a dream, and she'd wake up back in the GAR barracks on Triple Zero...

Scar's rough voice came again. "...promise…me…"

Andreanna jerked her head back up to look at Scar's face. "Whatever it is,_ ner vod_, I promise."

Scar was silent for a long moment, then took a shallow breath. "...promise me...that you won't let them...loose sleep over me...I've done my duty..."

Andreanna Scar's face in her hands and turned his head so he was looking right at her face. "HAAR'CHAK Scar, don't talk like that! You're not going anywhere but a bacta tank! You're not going to die, not now, and especially not for a galaxy of ungrateful _aruetiise_ who don't give a damn about what their soldiers do for them!" Andreanna's voice cracked as more tears filled her eyes. "Please...you can't do this to us...you can't leave..."

Guilt tore at Andreanna's concience. She knew this wasn't really her fault, but it still felt like it was. She desperately wished that she had told Scar more about normal lives...about the young female CSF officer in Kappa's favorite Coruscant cantina that was always glancing Scar's way...

A rare, faint smile touched Scar's lips for a brief moment as his eyes finally focused on Andreanna's face, and his eyes met hers. Slowly, his hand shaking, he gripped her arm, hand to elbow, Mando-style. "_Nu kyr'adyc, ner vod...shi taab'echaaj'la..." _

And with that, Scar breathed his last breath, and was no more.

* * *

**A/N:** I hate killing off characters, but the contest I wrote this for required that at least one person die. Agh.

And ick, I hate reading work that's a year old...I'm never satisfied with it, lol.

**Translations of Mandalorian words:**

_chakaar_ corpse robber, thief, b*tch, b**tard, petty criminal - general term of abuse  
_Kandosii_- wicked! cool! awesome! (etc.)  
_haar'chak-_ d*mn it  
_aruetiise-_ foreigners, outsiders  
_Nu kyr'adyc ner vod...shi taab'echaaj'la-_ Not gone, my sister, merely marching far away.


	5. Chapter 5: The Loss Of A Brother

**A/N: **This is the final part. Sorry for the shortness...

And thank you again, yellow 14, for your reviews! Reviews cheer me up, even if they're short. XD

**Disclaimer: **The Star Wars universe, along with Aurra Sing and other canon SW characters, belong to Lucas. Scar, Ree, Fore, Ten, Ven, and Andreanna Tel-Grava are mine.

* * *

Ven had landed the LAAT/i and Ten was anxiously pacing back and forth, waiting for Andreanna and Scar to return. His helmet was clipped to his belt, and thudded against his thigh armor as he walked.

"I can't raise either of them on comm," he muttered, stopping to glance down the street for a moment before resuming his pacing, kicking small chunks of duracrete as he walked. "Maybe I should take the last speeder bike and go find them."

Ven sat on a pile of rubble turning his helmet over in his hands again and again in an attempt to combat his boredom. "They'll get here when they get here, Ten. Be patient."

Leaning against the LAAT/i and wiping down his grimy deece with a rag, Ree shook his helmetless head and looked up. "Ten, Scar will kick your _shebs_ if..."

As Ree looked up, he trailed off mid-sentence and froze, and the other commandos followed his gaze. Further up the street, a figure in maroon and silver Mandalorian armor approached through the grey haze of smoke, struggling up the duracrete road with a figure in Katarn-class armor slung across her shoulders in a fireman's carry.

Ven's eyes widened in shock and his helmet dropped from his hands. _No...oh_ shab_, no..._vod_..._

Ten shot forward with a shout and took off down the street toward Andreanna. Ree dropped his weapon and followed, nearly tripping over the debris strewn accross the street as he ran. Time seemed to slow, and Ven remained where he was, frozen in place, unable to move, completely numb all over. Horrible thoughts and memories tore through his mind, and the pain of loosing his brothers, Ni and Malero, on Geonosis eleven months earlier rushed back, all too vividly. Scar was gone, he knew it. Somehow, without even seeing the body, he _knew_.

Time regained its normal pace as a cry echoed down the street toward Ven, pulling him from his thoughts. He gazed down the street dazedly, eyes slightly out of focus. Ten and Ree had reached Andreanna, and were pulling Scar off of her shoulders. They lowered his unmoving body to the ground and knelt beside him. Ven could hear Ten's shouts as he yelled at the commander, demanding to know what had happened. Ven's gaze flicked toward Andreanna, and he saw that she was sitting on her backside in the rubble with her helmet at her side and her face in her hands, shaking. Ten took her by the shoulders and shook her violently, shouting in her face, but she didn't respond. Releasing her abruptly, he went back to Scar and sat down, laying his arms across his knees and burying his face in his forearms. Ree just sat back on his heels beside Scar's body, face blank.

Ven closed his eyes, unable to watch. He sat there for a long time, alone with his thoughts, his guilt. Some time later, he felt a hand come to rest on his armored shoulder. He opened his eyes to see Andreanna standing beside him with Scar's helmet in one hand. She extended it toward him, and Ven numbly took the helmet from her and laid it on his lap. As he stared at the yellow orange markings the reality of what had happened set in.

Andreanna's hand lifted, and as she turned and walked away, Ven thought he heard her sniff.

Supposedly, clones formed a sort of bond with the members of their original squad, a bond that never faded away no matter what happened to them. Even though Ven was a pilot now, Scar had been the last remaining member of his original squad.

And now... Ven was alone.

* * *

Jedi General Luminara Unduli and Commander Barriss Offee arrived ahead of schedule early the next morning with the 41st Elite Infantry.

As Unduli and Offee watched clone troopers disembark from the _Venator_-class Destroyer, they were approached by Andreanna, Ven, and the remainder of Kappa squad. The commandos saluted, and Andreanna removed her helmet to speak with the general.

Nodding respectfully, she said, "You're here earlier than expected, General. I'm pleased to report that we carried out our objectives as ordered. We kept the scouts busy and held the planet until your arrival." She paused for a moment as she chose her next words. "However, when I was in the warehouse the Seps had holed up in, I overheard from a reliable source that the Separatists will continue with their invasion, regardless of GAR intervention."

Unduli nodded. "Thank you, Commander Tel-Grava. I will arrange for a full briefing as soon as possible."

Andreanna continued. "Also, I had a run in with a bounty hunter hired by Dooku, Aurra Sing. I thought I killed her, but her ship appeared on radar a few hours ago as it was leaving the planet."

Unduli sighed and murmured something to Offee. Her tone changed as she turned to address the commandos. "I must say, I am impressed by your success."

Ven removed his helmet and stared impassively at Unduli. "With all due respect, General, when we're given orders, we carry them out to the letter." With one final look at the Jedi general, Ven lowered his helmet back into place and walked away, followed closely by Ree, Fore, and Ten.

Offee watched them leave. She turned to Andreanna, visibly troubled. "We do not have time for a debriefing right now, but…" She glanced at the commandos as they waited for Andreanna by her ship with sadness in her eyes. "What...happened to these men?"

Andreanna hesitated for a long moment and inhaled slowly. "Scar, RC-3552, died yesterday, after shutting down the droid's control hub."

Barriss closed her eyes for a moment, then looked to the retreating commandos, unconcealed pity in her eyes.

Unduli was silent for a long moment, and looked like she was searching for the proper words. "I am sorry for their loss," she said awkwardly.

"Yeah, well...being sorry doesn't make it any easier for them." Andreanna shook her head. "Beings often forget that there are faces and people behind the helmets of the white-armored soldiers who protect them. The part of Scar's death that is the hardest to handle is that no one, besides myself and his brothers, will ever know that he gave his life for the Republic, and willingly at that. Out of everything, that is the hardest part for me to bear." Andreanna nodded to the two Jedi and donned her helmet. "Good day, General. Commander."

Andreanna boarded her ship, the commados close behind her. The engines roared as they ignited, and the ship rose from the landing pad and shot off into the sky, back to Triple Zero and away from Karideph forever.

* * *

**Another A/N:** So, what do you think? Personally, re-reading it, Andreanna seems rather Mary-Sue-ish to me, but like I said before, this is nearly a year old, and I'm a much better writer now than I was back then...

I did add a little to this chapter that wasn't there in the original version, but other than that, this story has been left untouched and is still in it's original, year-old form. Sheesh, I don't know how many times I've said this, but I really should give this a re-write...

I'll be posting a sixth part that will include all five parts on one page, for ease of reading, sometime next Wednesday.

Oh, and please let me know what you thought of the fic. =) *resists urge to beg, because begging is terribly undignified...*


	6. All parts on one page

**A/N: **If this is against some rule I'm unaware of, I apologize. I just wanted to be able to provide the option of reading the whole story on one page instead of having to reading it in parts, and I didn't want to post the story a second time, seperately, because I KNOW that's against the rules.

Also, I have included a list of Mandalorian words and their translations at the bottom of the page.

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Star Wars, ol' George does, all that jazz...

However, Andreanna Tel-Grava, and the men of Kappa Squad, Scar, Ten, Ree, For, and their pilot, Ven, are my own creations, and therefore, mine.

* * *

**Invasion of Karideph **

KARIDEPH, OUTER RIM, ELEVEN MONTHS AFTER THE BATTLE OF GEONOSIS

"TAKE COVER!"

A charred and smoking Trade Federation Armored Assault Tank, four B1 battle droids, and one super battle droid blasted away at Republic Commando squad Kappa. The four commandos and their Mandalorian commander split up and took cover behind large chunks of destroyed buildings and overturned vehicles that littered the city street. The AAT swung around, searching for the commandos and, locating one, the droid pilot locked onto him, and fired a missile. The missile screamed through the smoky air toward the clone and he broke into a run, trying to get as far away from it as possible. Seeing no other escape, he jumped into a crater in the ground left by an explosion. The missile shot above his head, missing him by two meters. It crashed into a half-demolished building and exploded, leaving a smoking hole in the wall, and sending debris flying in every direction. Shattered transparasteel, chunks of permacrete, and scraps of twisted durasteel rained down on the commando.

The droid pilot prepared to fire a second time, but was distracted when it heard a faint beeping. Looking down into the tank, it asked the co-pilot, "Do you hear something?"

"Negative. Nothing-"

The droid never finished its sentence. It was silenced as the proximity mines placed by one of the clone commandos detonated, and the already badly damaged AAT exploded in a fiery ball, taking the four battle droids, and super battle droid with it.

After the smoke had cleared, squad commander and Mandalorian mercenary Andreanna Tel-Grava climbed out from underneath the wreckage of an overturned civilian transport. Brushing dust and broken transparasteel from her maroon and silver _beskar _armor and black leather _kama_, she scanned the street for any remaining battle droids. Seeing none, she cautiously left the cover of the destroyed transport, blaster rifle at the ready, and opened a private comm channel to the commandos. "Everybody still in one piece?"

Squad captain RC-3552--Scar, as his comrades called him, due to the numerous scars that disfigured his tan face--was the first to respond. Warily leaving the safety of a nearby building, he nodded to the commander. "Yes, ma'am."

Crawling out from under a chunk of a fallen balcony, the squad's sniper, Ree, RC-3733, nodded an affirmative.

Fore, RC-3734, Kappa squad's slicer and medic, jogged over to Andreanna and saluted. "Still here."

The squad's weapons expert, Ten, RC-3010, emerged from the pile of rubble that had fallen on him when the CIS missile he had been fleeing exploded. He removed his helmet and laughed. "Almost a year and you're _still _asking that. You _do_ know everyone's vital signs are displayed on the HUD where we can all see 'em. You'd know is any of us were injured."

Andreanna looked sideways at Ten through her T-shaped visor. "_Copaani mirshmure'cye, vod?"_

"Me, _An'ika?_" Ten grinned. "Never."

Rolling her eyes, Andreanna turned away from the commandos and opened a comm channel to Kappa squad's pilot, RC-3511. "Ven, do you copy?"

After a moment, the comm channel crackled to life. "Copy, Commander."

Andreanna wasted no time on idle chatter. "I'm transmitting coordinates for the rendezvous point." A light flashed in her HUD to indicate that the information was sent.

"Coordinates received. I'll take it you destroyed the last of tinnies in your city?"

"Affirmative. Although, an AAT nearly brained Ten. Again."

"Sounds like you all have been busy." Ven fell awkwardly silent, and Andreanna felt a twinge of guilt. Ven had been severely injured at the battle of Geonosis eleven months earlier in an LAAT/i crash that had killed everyone in his squad but him, and was now physically impaired, unable to run long distances and perform the agile feats that were required by commando every day. Mentally he was perfectly fine, and he could still walk, but he was not a perfect soldier anymore.

Faint clicks and electronic beeps in the background as Ven entered coordinates into the navicomputer pulled Andreanna from her thoughts. "Commander, I'll meet you and the others at the rendezvous at oh-eight-hundred."

"Copy that. Tel-Grava, out."

* * *

Republic Commando squad Kappa had been deployed to Karideph when the Grand Army of the Republic received word that the Separatist armies were threatening to invade the crowded Outer Rim planet. The insectoid Karis had developed an export industry of servo-neuro motors for droids, and other small machine parts, and the Separatist armies--the Trade Federation in particular--were always looking for ways to improve their battle droids. When they saw the planet was not occupied by the Republic, the Separatists had sent scouts to Karideph to clear the way for their invasion army.

Their scouts were met by Kappa squad and their Mandalorian commander, Andreanna Tel-Grava, who had arrived just days before the scouts arrived. They had wiped out about half of the droids in less than a standard week, and now they just had to hold the planet until Jedi General Luminara Unduli, Jedi Commander Barriss Offee, and GAR reinforcements arrived…

* * *

Andreanna watched the approaching LAAT/i carefully navigate the cramped city streets as Ven looked for a place to land. Like Coruscant, Karideph was one of the most overpopulated planets in the galaxy, so every meter of space was used for something, whether it was living quarters, corporate office buildings, or tapcafs. Few Karis were wandering the streets now that droids were in the city, but Andreanna noticed that the ones outside of their homes or offices stopped to watch her and the commandos with curious eyes for a moment, but didn't come very close, and then quickly went about their business. Andreanna was used to having beings take one look at the iconic armor she wore every day, then hurry away as fast as they could, so the Karis reaction to her presence did not bother her much. She was proud of her Mandalorian culture, and did not try to hide it.

Ven found relatively open place to land the LAAT/i and opened the bay doors. Andreanna signaled for Scar, Ree, Fore, and Ten to form up behind her and headed toward the ship. When they had all boarded, Ven closed the bay doors, and they took off into the sky.

Slipping her helmet off of her head, Andreanna's dark brown hair came tumbling down to her shoulders. As she ran her fingers through her wavy hair, she caught a glimpse of her face reflected in the dark T-visor and lifted her helmet to eye level to look closer. There were dark circles under her eyes and worry lines forming in her face, and she stifled a sigh as she tucked her wine red helmet under her arm and rested it on her hip.

War had a way of making you age faster than you would otherwise. At twenty-six, Andreanna had aged drastically, both physically and emotionally. She could only imagine what it must be like for the clones...for Kappa squad, her unofficial adopted brothers. War took a toll on soldiers, and the clones already had a shortened life span.

_It must be afwul_, she thought, glancing at the commandos, k_nowing that every day you live is more like two. _

Her heart ached, and she pushed the thought away. When and if this war ever ended, perhaps she could try to help Kappa squad start their own lives, and maybe even find a way to help them live longer. But for the time being...she would only be exciting false hope to speak to them of such things. She couldn't do that to them. They already risked their lives every day for a galaxy of beings that didn't know, and perhaps wouldn't even care if they did know, about the life-or-death situations that GAR soldiers were in every day.

Ven's voice echoed through the LAAT/i as he spoke through the comm, pulling Andreanna from her thoughts. "Orders, Commander?"

Andreanna thought for a moment before responding. "How many sectors are still controlled by the Seps?"

"Five."

_Fantastic…_ "Just get us to the closest droid-controlled sector then, and we'll go from there."

"Yes, Commander."

Fore removed his helmet. "Permission to speak freely?"

Andreanna nodded. "Speak freely anytime you wish to, _vod_."

Fore nodded slightly. "I'm not one to complain, and I try to be optimistic, but…" He hesitated and lowered his voice. "I'm a realist. This is a suicide mission. It's a miracle that we lasted the past five days, and we've only destroyed half of the Sep scouts. And the odds of the _six _of us holding a _whole planet _until General Unduli gets here…" He didn't finish his statement, but his eyes said it all. An awkward silence fell over the group.

"I know, Fore." Andreanna paused, pressing her lips together in a thin line. "The odds aren't in our favor." She glanced at Scar, Ree, and Ten, who had also taken off their helmets.

"Hey, let's _try_ to look at the bright side." Ten said. "We only have to hold this place for another forty-eight hours until Unduli gets here. Am I right? What are we, a bunch of woklings? We've been through worse! We managed to stay alive through the mess of Geonosis, we've been on _countless _assignments--I can't even remember how many at the moment, I'd have to check my log--and yeah, so the odds on those assignments were better than now--well, with the exception of that mission to Altyr 5, that was a mess too--but come on, for the sake of the Force--"

Scar raised an eyebrow, then cut Ten off mid-rant. "Ten."

Ten stopped his ramble and looked at Scar. "Mhm?"

"You and your attempt at humor are not helping the situation right now. Stop. "

Ten rolled his eyes, but complied. "Yes, sir." He muttered something quietly to Fore in Mando'a, and Fore snorted in an attempt to suppress a laugh.

Scar cocked his head and growled at Ten. "_What_ did you call me?"

Ten grinned. "Nothing, _ner vod_."

Scar opened his mouth to reply when rapid cannon fire rocked the ship, and the LAAT/i went into a terrifying hundred-meter freefall before shooting upward again. Ven's voice echoed from the comm speakers. "We've run into some tinnies."

Ten laughed as he picked himself up of the gunship's deck. "No, _really_?"

Andreanna snapped into battle-mode. "Ree, Ten, man the laser turrets. Fore, you're co-pilot. Scar, we'll mount up on speeder bikes. Move!"

* * *

The LAAT/i dodged Separatist cannon fire as it swooped low over the city. The bay doors opened, and Scar and Andreanna flew out on speeder bikes. Ven closed the bay doors, and the LAAT/i flew higher. Ree and Ten were in the laser turrets, firing at droids as fast as they could lock on to them.

Andreanna raised Ven through her helmet comm. "Ven, I need a report. What are we facing?"

"Two AATs, ten SBDs, and a couple dozen battle droids. Ree, Ten, and I will take out as many Seps as possible from up here, we can't get them all." Ven paused for a moment. "We're in luck, though. It looks like the Seps main base is in this sector. I'm transmitting the coordinates now. It's about one hundred and fifty meters from your current location. Looks like they're holed up in a food storage warehouse. If you and Scar can get in, you might be able to take out whoever, or whatever, is commanding the droids."

"We'll find a way in. You, Ree, Fore, and Ten just keeps these tinnies occupied."

"Yes, Ma'am. Ven, out."

Andreanna quickly relayed the information to Scar and they headed toward the coordinates Ven had sent her. Weaving their way through the battle raging around them, they pushed their speeder bikes to their limits, and sped toward the warehouse. As they got closer, the doors began to open and Andreanna caught a glimpse of more battle droids. She opened a comm channel to Scar.

"Scar, we can't go in the front way. Let's hide the speeder bikes behind the warehouse and try to get in through the back. We'll have the element of surprise, so hopefully it won't be too hard to get in."

Scar nodded. "Yes, Commander."

They took a sharp left turn, then turned right onto another street. After a few more moments, they turned right again, and found themselves behind the warehouse. Hiding the speeder bikes, Andreanna and Scar crept toward the huge building.

Coming to a small back entrance, Andreanna keyed in a security override code provided by GAR intelligence, but the keypad screen flashed a red tinted "access denied" message. Frustrated, she tried a second time, then a third. Still no access. She slammed the butt of her blaster rifle into the keypad, crushing it, and the door slid open with a hiss. Motioning for Scar to follow her, they slipped inside and the door closed behind them. Suddenly, red lights began to flash, turning the grey durasteel hallway a shade of red, and a siren blared a ear-splitting alert.

An automated droid voice came over the comm. "Warning. Warning. Unauthorized personnel in hallway A-7. Repeat, unauthorized personnel in hallway A-7."

Scar glanced at Andreanna.

"Let's keep going." Slinging her blaster rifle onto her back, she took her blaster pistol from its holster on her right thigh and slammed in a new charge pack. "If we can take out the driods' control hub, we can end this now and be back on triple zero in a few days."

Scar nodded and checked his DC-17. "Then let's go."

* * *

Ven winced as another volley of laser fire battered the LAAT/i. He wasn't sure how much more the ship could take. The LAAT/i shot upward, and Ven threw it into a spin to avoid the missiles screaming toward the carbon-scored hull. Ten commed him from a laser turret.

"Ven, we're run low on missiles, and there are still a dozen battle droids, five SBDs and an AAT left."

Ree cut in as the LAAT/i shuddered under the impact of another CIS anti-air round. "The battle droids shouldn't be too much of a problem, but that AAT is tough."

"I scored two critical hits, but it's still going." Fore added, swearing under his breath as the LAAT/i narrowly evaded a concussion missile."They make those things better than they used to."

Ven threw the gunship into a series of elaborate maneuvers to avoid cannon fire from the CIS droids. "We don't have to destroy all the tinnies, just keep them busy until Scar and the commander can take out whoever is controlling them, so shift your _shebse_ in gear and focus on your aim. "

* * *

The sirens were still blaring as Andreanna and Scar raced up flights of the warehouse stairs.

_You'd think they would install turbo lifts..._ Andreanna grumbled to herself, trying to ignore her aching legs as she ran up the last few steps.

Not daring to use her helmet commlink for fear that the CIS droids would be monitoring communications, Andreanna motioned for Scar to remove the grate from a nearby air duct. He yanked the grate off and Ruusaan climbed in, the commando close behind. Andreanna crawled through the air duct without too much trouble, but the much bigger Scar had a more difficult time.

"You all right back there?" She whispered.

Scar stopped struggling for a moment to rest. "I'll survive, Ma'am."

After a few minutes, Andreanna came to a vent in the bottom of the duct overlooking the main room of the warehouse. Along one grey permacrete wall, a half dozen droids stood at various viewscreens and work stations, controlling the other troops' movements. Lining the other the other wall were five AAT tanks, a dozen curled up droidekas, ten super battle droids, and two dozen B1 battle droids. But the most distressing sight of all was the sight of a being that stood in the center of the room. About 1.7 meters tall, she was dressed in an orange jumpsuit and brown leather vest. Her skin was dead white, and her dark, sunken eyes expressed a wild anger, and a topknot of bright red hair rose from the center of her white scalp. Armed with a slug thrower and twin blaster pistols, a lightsaber hilt hung from her belt. Andreanna swore.

Aurra Sing.

* * *

Ten supressed the urge to panic. He, Ree, Fore, and Ven were low on ammunition, and the odds of winning hadn't even been in their favor _before_ that. Swinging his turret around, he aimed at another battle droid and fired, reducing it to a heap of smoking metal. "Got another one!" he shouted over the comm to his brothers.

"Don't get too excited, Ten, there are many more where that one came from," Ree replied grimly.

Ten snorted and rolled his eyes. "Party pooper..."

* * *

_Shab, _Andreanna swore as she looked through the vent at the bounty hunter. _Just when I thought we were going to have some good luck..._

As she read something on her data pad, oblivious to the intruders high above her head, Sing's comlink flashed, notifying her of an incoming call. She unclipped it from her belt and answered it, and a shimmering blue likeness of Count Dooku flickered into existence.

Andreanna paled beneath her helmet and pressed her lips into a thin line. _Oh, this keeps getting_ better_…_

Sing nodded. "Yes, Count?"

Dooku's aristocratic voice emanated from the comm. "Have you been monitoring inter-planetary communications as I ordered, Sing?"

"Yes. The Jedi will be here in a few standard days."

"Good. I am pleased with your work," Dooku replied, his voice expresssing everything but pleasure. "Has the resistance been...taken care of?"

Sing flinched, and hesitated for a split second before responding. "We are working to locate them."

Dooku's eyebrows raised. "Then your answer is 'no.'"

"I am afraid that my opponents are quite skilled, my lord. They have been difficult to track."

Dooku's voice practically dripped with sarcasm. "You have a small _army _of droids at your disposal, but yet you cannot kill _six_ GAR soldiers." It wasn't a question, it was a statement, a direct insult to Sing's pride.

"You forget, _my lord_," she spat back, eyes flashing with anger, "that I only agreed to do this so that I could kill the Jedi and her Padawan."

"_You_ forget, Sing, that if you wish to be paid, you will do as you are commanded."

"The death of the Jedi will be payment enough."

Dooku waved a hand dismissively. "Do not try my patience. You will do the job that you were hired to do." He was silent for a moment as he let his words sink in. "Even if you are not competent enough to keep the scouts intact, we will still move ahead with our invasion plans, Republic intervention or not." He stared coldly at Sing. "That does _not_ mean that you may shirk the tasks assigned to you. Do your job well, or suffer the consequences."

"As you command, Count Tyrannus," she said, spitting out his name as if it were a curse. Cutting the communication without another word, Sing hooked the comlink to her belt, and resumed reading a message on her datapad.

Glancing back to the droids standing at the viewscreens, Andreanna focused on making out what they were saying.

"Last known location?" a droid asked.

"C-10," the second droid responded.

"Negative," said a third droid. "C-8."

"Negative," the second droid argued. "C-10."

"C-8."

"C-10."

Sing overheard the droids and stormed over. "What are you arguing about now?!" she snapped.

"The location of the intruders."

Sing slammed a charge pack into her blaster. "You _still_ haven't located them?" She leveled one of her blaster pistols at the second droid's head and fired. The droid fell to the ground, and Sing kicked it aside.

A warehouse door slid open and four droids marched into the room. Sing turned to face them. "You better have found them," she growled.

"Negative. There is no sign that there were ever any intruders except for a damaged door control panel at the back of this warehouse."

"There's here, I can feel them, and if you can't find them, I'll find them myself!" Sing shouted. She stormed out of the room, cursing under her breath as she went.

Andreanna looked back over her shoulder to Scar. "Now's our chance," she whispered. "I'll keep the droids busy while you shut them down."

Scar nodded in acknowledgement.

Andreanna magnetized her rappel line to the inside of the air duct and kicked the rusting vent out. It hit the warehouse floor with a loud _thud_, alerting the battle droids below. They turned, swiveling around on a tan metal foot, and opened fire. Clipping the line to her belt, she jumped down, freefalling for a few heart-stopping seconds as blasterfire scorched the air around her before the line went taunt a meter above the ground. In one smooth motion, she unclipped the line, and dropping to the ground, drew her blaster and fired on the droids standing at the control panels. They returned her fire, blasters spewing relentless red bolts of energy, and she was forced to retreat several meters. Stepping over a dormant droideka, she silently prayed it wouldn't activate. Glancing behind the droids she was firing at, she saw Scar at the main control panel, yanking off a durasteel cover, then typing commands on one of the the keypads.

Aiming at the chest of one of the droids, she fired twice, taking it out. She ducked around the diactivated driods, dodging blaster bolts. There were only three droids left. Suddenly, the droids stopped firing and lowered their blasters. They stood there for a moment, motionless, then raised their blasters again, fired on each other, and were destroyed in seconds. Then the droidekas behind her rolled out of their dormant position and fired on each other, reducing themselves to smoking scrap metal. Andreanna was confused for a moment and glanced at Scar, who was still at one of the workstation. Scar entered one final command, then and walked toward Andreanna.

Andreanna just stared at him, dumbfounded. "Wait, did you just..."

* * *

Abruptly, the cannon fire stopped, and the LAAT/i leveled out, flying easily through the streets. Ven glanced out the viewport, confused, but didn't let his gaurd down and remained tense, ready to send the gunship into a steep dive to avoid CIS fire, if necessary.

"What in the worlds is going on down there?!" Ten shouted over the comm to his brothers.

Ven raised his eyebrows in surprise as he took in the sight below them. Thick grey smoke rose from an AAT that was firing a constant barrage of heavy artillery at the battle driods around it. "Scar has a bizarre sense of humor."

Ree grunted in agreement.

"Yeah," Fore added. "Why just shut down the tinnies when you can order them to fire on each other?"

The comm crackled to life and Andreanna's voice echoed through the gunship. "Everything all right up there, _vode_?"

Ven allowed himself a small smile. "Just fine, Commander."

* * *

Andreanna had recovered from her shock, and grinned, slapping Scar on the back. "_Kandosii, ner vod!_ I'm impressed. I didn't know you had it in you."

Scar shrugged, but Andreanna could tell that he was pleased with himself. Turning away to look at the destroyed CIS droids behind her, she continued, "Well, I can't say that I--"

She was cut short by the _snap-hiss_ sound of a lightsaber being ignited. Whirling around, she watched in horror as Scar collapsed onto the warehouse floor with a moan, a smoking hole in his chest.

"NO!" Andreanna screamed. She was going to loose another one of her men. Again.

_First Geonosis, now Karideph...this can't happen...I'm failing them...I can't keep my men, my own_ brothers_, alive..._

Her gaze settled on an orange-clad figure standing behind Scar's fallen form and holding an ignited lightsaber in one hand, the glow from the crimson blade bathing the wielder's pale face in a sickly red hue.

Andreanna felt her anger rising. _Sing._

The deathly pale bounty hunter raised her chin and laughed. Lightsaber at the ready, she stepped forward a few paces then stopped, stomping on Scar's motionless body with one foot.

"Does it hurt, Mandalorian scum?" she asked Andreanna, kicking Scar in the side with the toe of her brown leather boot. "Does it hurt to see him suffer?" She laughed again and leaned forward, her menacing stare seemingly able to pierce Andreanna's helmet. She kicked Scar again, and this time, he moaned in pain.

Andreanna couldn't take it anymore. Something deep inside her snapped; her vision clouded as though a red mist had settled upon her surroundings. With an enraged scream, she ejected a vibroblade from her gauntlet and lunged at Sing, knocking the surprised bounty hunter's lightsaber from her hand and throwing her bodily to the ground. Sing rolled backwards, narrowly avoiding the sharp vibroblade and reached out with her hand to call her lightsaber hilt to her hand, but Andreanna brought one booted foot down on the moving hilt, crushing the blade emitter underfoot. Sing leapt to her feet and drew her twin blaster pistols, then opened fire on the Mandalorian woman.

Andreanna advanced, dodging as many bolts as she could as she ran at the bounty hunter before her. The blaster bolts that did hit her were rendered harmless as they deflected off of her maroon _beskar _armor. As Sing backed away, she began aiming for the unarmored parts of Andreanna's body, and one of the bolts hit Andreanna's stomach, between her stomach armor and ammo belts. Andreanna slowed for a moment as the sharp scent of charred flesh filled the air, but then ignored it, and ejected a second vibroblade out of her left gauntlet. She lunged at Sing again, but the pale-skinned woman ducked, and Andreanna barely grazed her arm.

Switching tactics, Andreanna kneed Sing in her unarmored stomach, and Sing dropped one of her blasters as she doubled over and backed away. Andreanna reached out and grabbed a fistful of Sing's hair and pulled hard, yanking the woman's head toward her. Raising a knee, she pulled Sing's face into the _beskar_ knee pad and heard the satisfying _crunch_ of bone being crushed. Howling in pain, Sing slammed her fist into Andreanna's stomach, right on top of the blaster burn, and a hiss of pain escaped Andreanna's lips and she released Sing's topnot and retreated several paces.

The two women cirlced each other, breathing hard. Andreanna's ragged breathing, amplified by her helmet's audio, echoed through the room. Sing's teeth, bared in a feral grin, had taken on a reddish tint from the blood dripping from her broken nose into her mouth. "You are a formidable opponent. May I have the pleasure of knowing your name?"

Andreanna crouched. "Never, filthy _chakaar_." She lunged again, and this time, her vibroblades hit home as she slashed Sing's left arm with one blade, and buried the second in her right thigh. Sing pulled away, cursing Andreanna, and fired at her once more with her remaining blaster, but Andreanna brought one arm up and sliced the inside of Sing's arm, causing her to drop her weapon. Andreanna spun and kicked Sing in the chest with one heavy, booted foot, sending her flying backwards onto the warehouse floor. Retracting her vibroblades, Andreanna slung her blaster rifle off of her back, and sighting up on Sing's chest, she fired.

* * *

Andreanna knelt beside Scar and rolled him onto his back. _Oh no, please…_ She yanked her helmet off and threw it on the ground beside her, then pulled Scar's commando helmet off and laid it next to hers.

Scar moaned, his eyes were barely open. "Commander...?"

Andreanna nodded. "Yes, it's Andreanna. You're going to be all right. I'm going to get you back to your _vode_, and we'll get you in a bacta tank and you'll be healed up in no time--"

Scar shook his head weakly. "I…don't need Fore here...to tell me the odds...I'm...a dead man..."

Andreanna shook her head furiously, tears forming in her eyes. "No, you're fine." _I can't loose Scar, I can't...I already lost my entire blood family, and two of my adopted brothers..._

"I want you to…promise me something." His breathing was shallow, and his dark brown eyes were unfocused as they stared at the ceiling high above.

A tear fell from Andreanna's cheek and landed on Scar's chest. She watched as it slid down the matte black stealth armor and past the smoking hole in the chestplate, and gasped when she realized she could see the warehouse floor through the wound. She gingerly raised one hand and laid it over the wound to cover the hole and sqeezed her eyes shut, desprately wishing for an illogical moment that it was just a dream, and she'd wake up back in the GAR barracks on Triple Zero...

Scar's rough voice came again. "...promise…me…"

Andreanna jerked her head back up to look at Scar's face. "Whatever it is,_ ner vod_, I promise."

Scar was silent for a long moment, then took a shallow breath. "...promise me...that you won't let them...loose sleep over me...I've done my duty..."

Andreanna Scar's face in her hands and turned his head so he was looking right at her face. "_HAAR'CHAK_ Scar, don't talk like that! You're not going anywhere but a bacta tank! You're not going to die, not now, and especially not for a galaxy of ungrateful _aruetiise_ who don't give a damn about what their soldiers do for them!" Andreanna's voice cracked as more tears filled her eyes. "Please...you can't do this to us...you can't leave..."

Guilt tore at Andreanna's concience. She knew this wasn't really her fault, but it still felt like it was. She desperately wished that she had told Scar more about normal lives...about the young female CSF officer in Kappa's favorite Coruscant cantina that was always glancing Scar's way...

A rare, faint smile touched Scar's lips for a brief moment as his eyes finally focused on Andreanna's face, and his eyes met hers. Slowly, his hand shaking, he gripped her arm, hand to elbow, Mando-style. "_Nu kyr'adyc, ner vod...shi taab'echaaj'la..." _

And with that, Scar breathed his last breath, and was no more.

* * *

Ven had landed the LAAT/i and Ten was anxiously pacing back and forth, waiting for Andreanna and Scar to return. His helmet was clipped to his belt, and thudded against his thigh armor as he walked.

"I can't raise either of them on comm," he muttered, stopping to glance down the street for a moment before resuming his pacing, kicking small chunks of duracrete as he walked. "Maybe I should take the last speeder bike and go find them."

Ven sat on a pile of rubble turning his helmet over in his hands again and again in an attempt to combat his boredom. "They'll get here when they get here, Ten. Be patient."

Leaning against the LAAT/i and wiping down his grimy deece with a rag, Ree shook his helmetless head and looked up. "Ten, Scar will kick your _shebs_ if..."

As Ree looked up, he trailed off mid-sentence and froze, and the other commandos followed his gaze. Further up the street, a figure in maroon and silver Mandalorian armor approached through the grey haze of smoke, struggling up the duracrete road with a figure in Katarn-class armor slung across her shoulders in a fireman's carry.

Ven's eyes widened in shock and his helmet dropped from his hands. _No...oh_ shab_, no..._vod_..._

Ten shot forward with a shout and took off down the street toward Andreanna. Ree dropped his weapon and followed, nearly tripping over the debris strewn accross the street as he ran. Time seemed to slow, and Ven remained where he was, frozen in place, unable to move, completely numb all over. Horrible thoughts and memories tore through his mind, and the pain of loosing his brothers, Ni and Malero, on Geonosis eleven months earlier rushed back, all too vividly. Scar was gone, he knew it. Somehow, without even seeing the body, he _knew_.

Time regained its normal pace as a cry echoed down the street toward Ven, pulling him from his thoughts. He gazed down the street dazedly, eyes slightly out of focus. Ten and Ree had reached Andreanna, and were pulling Scar off of her shoulders. They lowered his unmoving body to the ground and knelt beside him. Ven could hear Ten's shouts as he yelled at the commander, demanding to know what had happened. Ven's gaze flicked toward Andreanna, and he saw that she was sitting on her backside in the rubble with her helmet at her side and her face in her hands, shaking. Ten took her by the shoulders and shook her violently, shouting in her face, but she didn't respond. Releasing her abruptly, he went back to Scar and sat down, laying his arms across his knees and burying his face in his forearms. Ree just sat back on his heels beside Scar's body, face blank.

Ven closed his eyes, unable to watch. He sat there for a long time, alone with his thoughts, his guilt. Some time later, he felt a hand come to rest on his armored shoulder. He opened his eyes to see Andreanna standing beside him with Scar's helmet in one hand. She extended it toward him, and Ven numbly took the helmet from her and laid it on his lap. As he stared at the yellow orange markings the reality of what had happened set in.

Andreanna's hand lifted, and as she turned and walked away, Ven thought he heard her sniff.

Supposedly, clones formed a sort of bond with the members of their original squad, a bond that never faded away no matter what happened to them. Even though Ven was a pilot now, Scar had been the last remaining member of his original squad.

And now... Ven was alone.

* * *

Jedi General Luminara Unduli and Commander Barriss Offee arrived ahead of schedule early the next morning with the 41st Elite Infantry.

As Unduli and Offee watched clone troopers disembark from the _Venator_-class Destroyer, they were approached by Andreanna, Ven, and the remainder of Kappa squad. The commandos saluted, and Andreanna removed her helmet to speak with the general.

Nodding respectfully, she said, "You're here earlier than expected, General. I'm pleased to report that we carried out our objectives as ordered. We kept the scouts busy and held the planet until your arrival." She paused for a moment as she chose her next words. "However, when I was in the warehouse the Seps had holed up in, I overheard from a reliable source that the Separatists will continue with their invasion, regardless of GAR intervention."

Unduli nodded. "Thank you, Commander Tel-Grava. I will arrange for a full briefing as soon as possible."

Andreanna continued. "Also, I had a run in with a bounty hunter hired by Dooku, Aurra Sing. I thought I killed her, but her ship appeared on radar a few hours ago as it was leaving the planet."

Unduli sighed and murmured something to Offee. Her tone changed as she turned to address the commandos. "I must say, I am impressed by your success."

Ven removed his helmet and stared impassively at Unduli. "With all due respect, General, when we're given orders, we carry them out to the letter." With one final look at the Jedi general, Ven lowered his helmet back into place and walked away, followed closely by Ree, Fore, and Ten.

Offee watched them leave. She turned to Andreanna, visibly troubled. "We do not have time for a debriefing right now, but…" She glanced at the commandos as they waited for Andreanna by her ship with sadness in her eyes. "What...happened to these men?"

Andreanna hesitated for a long moment and inhaled slowly. "Scar, RC-3552, died yesterday, after shutting down the droid's control hub."

Barriss closed her eyes for a moment, then looked to the retreating commandos, unconcealed pity in her eyes.

Unduli was silent for a long moment, and looked like she was searching for the proper words. "I am sorry for their loss," she said awkwardly.

"Yeah, well...being sorry doesn't make it any easier for them." Andreanna shook her head. "Beings often forget that there are faces and people behind the helmets of the white-armored soldiers who protect them. The part of Scar's death that is the hardest to handle is that no one, besides myself and his brothers, will ever know that he gave his life for the Republic, and willingly at that. Out of everything, that is the hardest part for me to bear." Andreanna nodded to the two Jedi and donned her helmet. "Good day, General. Commander."

Andreanna boarded her ship, the commados close behind her. The engines roared as they ignited, and the ship rose from the landing pad and shot off into the sky, back to Triple Zero and away from Karideph forever.

* * *

**Mando'a Translations**

_vod -_ brother/sister/comrade  
_ner_ _vod -_ my brother/sister/comrade  
_Copaani mirshmure'cye, vod? -_ Are you looking for a slap in the face, brother?  
_'ika - _diminutive suffix written as _'ika_ - also added to a name as a very familiar or childhood form, e.g, _Ord'ika_ - Little Ordo  
_shebs _- backside, butt, etc.  
_shab _- basically the Mandalorian equivalent of the f-word...  
"_Nu kyr'adyc, ner vod...shi taab'echaaj'la..." _- Not gone, my sister, merely marching far away

I think I got them all...

Anyways, that's it. And is this was a violation of some rule, please let me know. Thanks a ton!


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